The beginning of Alz journey

Alz_D

Alz_D

Alz_D

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Good afternoon,

First of all - if this is posted in the wrong place then feel free to move it (I'm not a regular in this part of the forum that is for sure! :( ).

Ok so I'll begin with a bit about me: I'm Alex (Alz) I'm 33 and work as a finance manager for a car dealership some 50+ hours per week.

I have decided that I need to get a grip of myself before it's too late to do anything about it. This was all prompted by a recent set of trips to hospital and lots of tests due to irregular heart beat, palpitations and dizzy/out of breath spells. Scary stuff being admitted to a high dependency ward and hooked up to lots of machines:eek: . I suppose it was to be expected at some point, I wasn't doing any exercise and my diet was embarrassing at best (I have always been a fussy eater and too often fall back on pizza and packet food). Don't get me wrong I'm not huge, but I was 19st and am 6' 3" and this I believe is a little heavy :p

So I had a quiet word with myself 6 weeks ago and actually started using the gym membership I pay for every month (It's a full family ticket in case anyone thinks I'm insane), I have also started looking at my diet and am tracking what I eat using the myfitnesspal app - which I have found extremely helpful. Trying to keep the calories between 1700 ~ 1900 every day and am succeeding most days. I'm now down to 17st 12lb so things are going in the right direction!

This morning I started T25 - I guess most people will know what that it (love it or hate it) but it is a 60 day home workout that I have committed to completing. It fits in well with my work - that is basically the reason behind it - and I am still going to do my nest to find the time to go to the gym when I can.

So why have I posted on here? Well, lots of you have been in similar situations and as I go forward I'm sure I will be able to ask for advice as and when I need it. Also if I have a post about it on here then I feel I have some accountability moving forward (maybe I am insane :p).

One of the things I struggle with is healthy meals that I'd actually eat. I hate most vegetables - which I need to get over. I can't live eating chicken breast and rice every night for the rest of my life!! Any advice on suggested meals would be great.

When I get to the gym I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what is best to get the weight off and improve the way I look - currently I do 45 mins on the x-trainer then 45 mins intervals on the static bike.

Thanks for reading anyway - I'll come back and update this when I have more progress.

Think that is the most I have written in one go since school!! :D

Any way TL: DR is - I'm overweight and I don't want to be any more, any advice appreciated.
 
Good job so far! Dropping a stone in 6 weeks is excellent.

How many times a week are you doing 90 minutes cardio? If you're doing that a a decent frequency the weight should be dropping off pretty rapidly no matter how bad your diet is if you've been used to relative inactivity.

The main thing is to stick to your plan. You will not see any real change unless you carry on for 6 months. This is where I have fallen down before and it's terribly frustrating. Sometimes all it takes is a busy week, or more often than not a week of nights at work and I'm sunk!

Let's be honest with ourselves, diet is the most important thing. Myfitnesspal is excellent at giving you an insight about what you're eating, but unless you're very honest and obsessional it can give you false reassurance.

Hydration is hugely important, something that can be overlooked easily. Fizzy drinks, fruit juice and squash are pretty terrible for you if you're drinking large quantities. Tea and coffee are ok, but similarly if you're drinking 8 cups of milky coffee with a load of sugar this is going to be very detrimental to your diet. Drink water, have a bottle at your desk at work.

Booze - stop drinking. You'll undo all your hard work in the week if you go out on a Friday and Saturday and have >10 pints. You don't have to stop forever, but it'll really help kickstart a change in your physique.

Sleep - Go to bed half an hour earlier.

It's all about marginal gains, no one is expecting you to suddenly become vegan and go to an intensive yoga retreat, however nothing that's worth having comes easy.
 
Thanks for the replies - I've cut alcohol out almost 100% and I've never felt better - I also 100% cut out fizzy diet drinks. I used to drink probably 4 liters of Pepsi max a day up until I had the issues with my chest and they mentioned that it could be a factor!

As for strength training- it is certainly something that I want to build to once I've got my fitness back to a level that I'm happy with. I know lots of people have had wonderful results from heavy lifting. Gonna be a long road but as you've said I have started and things can only get better from here. Every day I'm feeling better and better about myself and I can see a difference as well as comments I'm getting from people close to me about my mental attitude and general persona. It's true what people say about being unhappy with yourself- it really does impact every part of you and those around you. Positivity is the way forward.
 
**Quick Update** (on that note maybe this thread would be better in the training logs section - feel free to move it if that is the case)

The Good

So I completed the first week of T25 - well I will have tomorrow after the stretching dvd. I managed to get up earlier every day and give the workouts 100%, most of the days went well apart from one that focuses on abs and involves a lot of sitting on your ass with your legs and back off the ground in a V shape (I was more like a spoon :D ) I don't think they have me as their target audience with some of those move, but things can only get better - Right? I also made it to the gym 3 times for 60 minutes of cardio each time.

Food wise I have been there or there about against my calorie goal each day, although I had scampi and chips last night.

One thing I am wondering is what sort of split of Carbs / Protein / Fat I should be aiming for. I've been on quite low carbs and this has for the last few days made me feel pretty crappy and slow. I think I need to up these a bit through the day especially when I'm doing the gym.

The Bad

There wasn't much bad really, I have an issue with both my knees - mainly the right one - and I did have some pain Thursday so I backed of a bit on it and avoided exercises that put too much pressure on it. Both my knees grind a bit and feel terrible through motion, they seem to have very little stability when pressured at certain angles. I have an MOT booked as I am changing doctors so I'll get them looked at when I'm there to make sure I'm not doing anything I shouldn't.

The Result

This week I have gone from 17st 12lb to 17st 10lb so a loss of ~2lb :)

It's amazing the difference a few weeks of this does to you both physically and mentally. Without going into too much boring detail I have been a long time anxiety and depression sufferer, but these last few weeks I have felt really good in myself - if that makes sense. Positive attitude really makes a difference and lots of people have commented that I seem different. Just have to keep all this going now.

Thanks for reading and any tips on the diet questions I'd be grateful ;)
 
Any advice on the split of Carbs / Protein / Fat I should be aiming for?

Also - what is the best thing to eat / drink post exercise to help with recovery? I'm noticing that if I do 2 sessions in a day then the next day I'm a lot less energetic and get tired quicker - Can my diet help with this?
 
well done on starting a big change. not really any advice to offer but any changes out of your comfort zone, learning something new or achieving challenges will have a massive impact on mental health and anxiety, this is what doctors should be prescribing.

oh and a little sweet chilli sauce helps the mix veg go down very nicely
 
Alz_D said:
Any advice on the split of Carbs / Protein / Fat I should be aiming for?

Also - what is the best thing to eat / drink post exercise to help with recovery? I'm noticing that if I do 2 sessions in a day then the next day I'm a lot less energetic and get tired quicker - Can my diet help with this?
Click to expand...

The macro mix is down to preference - there are plenty of calculators online to help with this. :)

Regarding post-workout nutrition, this is again personal preference: the main idea - for energy - is carbs and salts... But this can be done at any point 6-8hrs before your next round of exercise. Are you training difference muscle groups in your twice daily sessions? Are you also getting enough sleep?

And don't see a doctor about your muscles and joints because they (generally) have no idea. Get a physio to look you over.
 
Thank you for both replies - I agree that exercise should be prescribed by doctors - if only it were that easy!

I shall have a look online for a macro calculator and read more into that.

With regard to different muscle groups, at the moment I'm doing the T25 workout each morning at 6:30am then I'm off to work, I finish at 7:00pm and head to the gym and aim for between 60~90 minutes cardio, usually a mix of the x-trainer and the static bike. Eventually I want to bring weights into this, hopefully that will give me legs a rest when not doing leg days.

It's difficult as a beginner to know where to start with all this, I am, for want of a better word, a total noob :rolleyes: when it comes to anything like this. I've done bits before but it has never been structured and I have never given it 100%.

I think that is why I'm enjoying the structure of these home work out plans, which I know are not to everyone's taste and the money could be better spent elsewhere but it is working for me.

The plan is to first complete this T25 course (I have 8 of the 10 weeks left), I then have a 10 day holiday to Cyprus :D and when I get back I am going to start insanity and complete that. That will take me to Christmas and I should definitely be fitter, lighter and more flexible - Then I can start something with weights and for that I have been looking at something like P90x or Stronglifts - the issue that I can see with stronglifts is that it might be difficult to do on my own? :confused: things like BP and Squat surely rely on having a spotter with you to avoid injury and the plans don't recommend using something like a smith machine.

A question to you mrthingyx - When doing squats with a bar, I really struggle to reach back and grab the bar. I don't know if it is my shape or size or just that I am that unfit :p but I have to have an extremely wide grip. Is there an exercise I can do or a stretch that would help with this?

Thanks again for the advice everyone.
 
There are some internal/external shoulder rotation and pec things (both stretching and strengthening) you should be doing as you don't want to run the risk of dislocating something. :eek: :)

If you YouTube "KStar" and "shoulder mobility," you will find lots to keep you entertained/in pain. :)
 
Firstly, well done for getting on a routine and sticking to it. Progress is going well :)

Alz_D said:
things like BP and Squat surely rely on having a spotter with you to avoid injury and the plans don't recommend using something like a smith machine.
Click to expand...

I squat and bench with no spotter quite safely - can be done in a rack or half rack (like a Bodymax CF415) quite easily.

Alz_D said:
A question to you mrthingyx - When doing squats with a bar, I really struggle to reach back and grab the bar. I don't know if it is my shape or size or just that I am that unfit :p but I have to have an extremely wide grip. Is there an exercise I can do or a stretch that would help with this?
Click to expand...

He knows everything so do what he said, but shoulder dislocations worked wonders for me (and some general ball rolling on my pecs). That tightness is very typical desk based person stuff
 
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